CH 125

The remaining two days on the road were uneventful, and Souya and his team arrived in the town of Loloa.

The sky was turning to sunset, and the cawing of ravens could be heard from somewhere.

“Thank you for the hard work. The harvest festival will be the day after tomorrow, so I hope you can relax tomorrow while meeting with the adventurers from the Royal Capital. I will be at the mayor’s house, so if you need anything, please visit me.”

Souya, Mia, and Merylou were led by Gordon to an inn and restaurant called the “Waterfowl Pavilion”.

Gordon, the client, is a servant of the mayor of the town and lives in the mayor’s house. It was no wonder that he was in a position to receive information about the royal capital of Doldberg and Ilstadt.

The mayor’s house was only a few minutes’ walk away, and this inn seemed to have been chosen for that reason. As he said, if we needed anything, we would be able to call on him immediately.

“We have a room for four. It will be shared by men and women, but …… if there are any problems, we can discuss it with the adventurers from the Royal Capital, and it will be better to separate the men and women.”

“I don’t have a problem with it. Hey, Souya is fine, too, right?”

Asked by Merylou, Souya nodded.

“It’s up to the adventurers in the Royal Capital, but I’m fine with it …… Gordon-san, are the adventurers sent by the Royal Capital coming? I’m sure we’ll need to have a meeting.”

“Yes. If everything is on schedule, they should arrive today. I’ll go check on it.”

Gordon went to the master of the Waterfowl Pavilion, who was behind the counter.

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Eventually, after a few dozen seconds or so, Gordon returned and nodded.

“It seems they’ve arrived a step ahead of us. Let me call them here.”

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

Three men and a woman emerged from the upper floor of the inn. They were probably the adventurers from the Royal Capital.

Oddly enough, they had the same number of men and women as Souya and the others, and the same male-to-female ratio.

The first one. The young man in the center, who appeared to be the leader.

He had long hair like fiery rubies, eyes the same color as Souya’s, and a long sword at his waist. He is well built and has a rather handsome face.

But there is something more striking than that. The young man’s entire body, except for his face, was tightly covered with a thin, black tights-like cloth. The muscles of his entire body are clearly visible through the tight fabric. He wore no armor either, but was fortunate to have a cup-like object in his crotch.

The word ‘pervert’ popped into Souya’s head for a moment, but he managed to keep a straight face.

He can never laugh here. It was unexpected that such an ordeal came out of nowhere so early in the face-to-face encounter.

The second person. A woman with black hair, black eyes, and a short cut. There were small tear marks at the corners of her eyes.

She was wearing chain mail chain armor and had a mace and a small buckler on her waist. She has a sharp face and a good physique.

Around her neck is the Holy Symbol of the god of war Ragacia. Her style was very easy to recognize. She was almost certainly a priest warrior monk.

The third one. A girl with twin-tailed silver hair.

She had unusual features. Brown skin and long pointed ears. She is a dark elf.

She had a dagger of different lengths at her waist, and her light clothes and petite physique combined to make her look light in the air.

Twenty years ago, Souya was involved in a war with an organization and was not fond of the dark elves who were members of the organization. Perhaps she was from that organization.

“So you are the adventurers of Ilstadt …… Two quite lovely ladies. It was worth the trip to Loloa.”

The red-haired young man in full black tights, minus his face, winked at Mia and Merylou, but Mia turned her gaze slightly away. Perhaps she could not look directly at the young man’s attire. Merylou had a look of dismay on her face.

“Oh, ohhhh …… it’s nice to meet you. I am Merylou, a spiritual arts user. I am the party leader and a Silver-class adventurer.”

“Leader and Silver-class …… As expected of an adventurer of Ilstadt. You’ve got the bare minimum. Even though it’s a joint commission.”

The dark elf girl muttered. Hearing these words, which could be considered provocative, Merylou stared silently with a frown on her face.

I had a feeling that sparks were about to fly as soon as possible.

“Rita, will you stop? I thought this request required that at least one of us be a Silver-class or above …… I’m sorry for my rude comrade.”

The red-haired young man in full black tights admonished the dark elf called Rita and bowed his head.

“Let me introduce myself. I am Belmont, leader of the Red Moon. Some people call me ‘Valiant Demon’. I am a platinum-class adventurer.”

Hearing the name Belmont, Merylou, looked surprised with her eyes wide open.

“The Valiant Demon Belmont,…… that famous magic warrior? So he was the one dressed like this.”

“…… I am honored that you know my name, Merylou-san. I am that Belmont, the famous magic warrior.”

Belmont affirmed Merylou’s question. He made no special mention of being told he was dressed like this.

(Valiant Demon Belmont …… I’m pretty sure Louise-san mentioned his name when we first met.)

If I remember correctly, he is a prominent magic warrior belonging to the Royal Capital. I thought he also said he was magic-leaning.

In any case, given his Platinum-class, it is safe to assume that he is a well-known adventurer.

“I am Stella. As you can see, I am Monk, a priestess of the god of war Ragacia. Pleased to meet you. I am a Gold-class Adventurer.”

“Rita. Thief. And a follower of the god of chaos Seraen. My class is the same as Stella.”

The two people on the Royal Capital’s side who had been waiting introduced themselves as well. Both of the women seemed to be skilled gold-class adventurers. They were each two grades above Souya and the others.

Perhaps the two guilds were jointly commissioned, and the headquarters had dispatched skilled personnel for the sake of rivalry. Or it could be that they happened to be short of personnel.

I did not know what was going on, but I was grateful that they seemed to be very reliable as a fighting force.

“My name is Mia. I am a cleric of the Earth Mother Goddess Mikaela. I am a Bronze-Class adventurer, and I look forward to working with you.”

“Mia. That’s a beautiful name …… if you don’t mind, will join Red Moon…”

“Belmont. Stop making that lure.”

When Stella reprimanded him in a cool-headed tone of voice, Belmont reacted with a startled, dejected look on his face and fell silent. Even Rita gave him a disdainful look.

Although he is the leader, one rank above adventurer, and holds a prestigious title, his position in the party may be low.

The indescribably dressed Belmont and the earlier staring contest between Merylou and Rita were worrisome, but as a first impression, it was not that bad. We should be thankful that, in terms of competence, they were skilled.

“I guess I’m the last. My name is Souya. I’m a magician. My class is ……”

“Did you just say Souya?”

Before Souya could finish introducing himself, Belmont reacted and interrupted him.

“…… Those strange glasses. The air of a gentleman. Don’t tell me you’re the new Demon Slayer.”

Stella and Rita also looked at each other when they heard these words, and then looked at Souya quizzically.